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ANALYSIS OF SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR BEHAVIOR UNDER

ELECTRICAL FAULT CONDITIONS

Article · September 2013

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Peter Dubravka – Pavol Rafajdus – Pavol Makys – Valeria Hrabovcova – Lorand Szabo *

ANALYSIS OF SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR BEHAVIOR

UNDER ELECTRICAL FAULT CONDITIONS

This paper deals with analysis of Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) behavior under fault conditions. The static parameters of the healthy
SRM and SRM with defined faults of phases are investigated by Finite Element Method (FEM). These static parameters are used in dynamic
simulation of the SRM. Transients are simulated for the healthy motor and for the motor under fault conditions. Results of the simulations
are compared with experimental measurements.
Keywords: Switched reluctance motor, fault operation, parameter analysis

1. Introduction In [8] a fault-tolerant SRM drive with adaptive fuzzy logic

The Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) is one of the simplest
and robust electrical machines. Torque of SRM is produced by
tendency of rotor to move to a position where the inductance of
the excited winding is maximized [1].
The SRM construction is very simple. It is a double salient elec-
trical machine which has only stator winding and rotor is passive.
Each phase comprises two coils wound on opposite stator poles
and connected in series or parallel [2]–[4]. The cross-section area
of the three phase 6/4 SRM is shown in Fig. 1a. In Fig. 1b, there
is a photo of the investigated SRM.
In many applications, the drive reliability is a very important
task from the point of view of fault operation. There are several
types of fault states which could occur during the SRM operation.
Mechanical, magnetic or electrical faults of the motor could occur.
This paper is focused on electrical faults of SRM.
controller providing smooth torque with minimum ripple under
normal and fault conditions is described.
Some fault states are analyzed in [9]. In this paper the static
and dynamic faults of real 6/4 SRM are investigated. The static
analysis is carried out by means of FEM and the phase inductance,
flux linkage and air gap torque are analyzed under normal and fault
conditions. These static parameters are used in the dynamic sim-
ulation of the SRM and transients are calculated also for health
and fault operated motor. The simulated results are compared with
experimental ones.
The nameplate of the investigated SRM is shown in Table 1.

The electrical faults could be: short circuit in one coil of a phase
(all turns or some turns), a whole coil is bridged by a short circuit,
the whole phase is short circuited, open circuit in one coil of a phase,
a short circuit between two different phases, a short circuit from
one winding to ground [5], [6]. a) b)
Fig. 1 The investigated SRM, a) cross-section area, a photo of open motor
In [7] electrical faults detection and special fault tolerant
design of the 12/14 SRM are studied, where the winding scheme
is a six phased duplex type (each phase is doubled). When a fault The nameplate of the investigated 6/4 SRM Table 1.
of one channel occurs the second channel still contributes to the
Rated voltage Rated current Rated speed
torque generation. Some simulations of the winding faults are pre-
sented. 3x 10V 28.5A 5000 rpm

* Peter Dubravka1, Pavol Rafajdus1, Pavol Makys1, Valeria Hrabovcova1, Lorand Szabo2
1
Department of Power Electrical Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Zilina, Slovakia, E-mail: pavol.rafajdus@kves.uniza.sk
2
Department of Electrical Machines and Drives, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

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2. FEM analysis of the SRM static parameters
There are several methods how to analyze the static parame-
ters of the SRM [10] and [11]. Very useful and accurate is Finite
Element Analysis (FEA) which is used in this paper. For the FE
magnetostatic analysis the following input data are needed: geo-
metrical dimensions of the machine, current density of one phase,
material constants (winding conductivity and relative permeability,
B-H curve of SRM ferromagnetic circuit material) and boundary
conditions. The parametric model of SRM was created in LUA
script in the FEMM 4.2 software for more convenient calculation
with lower time consumption. The LUA script also enables the SRM
model configurations (changes of the machine geometry or other
parameters) during the execution of the script.
The static characteristics of the SRM were analyzed by means
of FEM under four different winding fault conditions. Namely 0%,
20%, 50%, 70% of winding turns are in the short circuit that cor-
responds to 25, 20, 13, 8 winding turns respectively.
range from 1 to 28 A. In Fig. 2 the distribution of magnetic flux
lines of healthy SRM for aligned and unaligned position can be
seen. For comparison, in Fig. 3, there is a distribution of magnetic
flux lines of fault SRM for aligned and unaligned position if 50%
of coil “B” turns are in short circuit.
Magnetic flux linkage calculation
The first parameter to be analyzed is the flux linkage versus
phase current for different rotor position ψ  f(I,Θ). The area
bounded by maximal phase current and by both ψ  I curves for
aligned and unaligned positions is equal to mechanical energy, which
is converted to electromagnetic force [1]. In Fig. 4 the flux linkage
for various rotor positions and currents can be seen. In Fig. 5 the
curves obtained by means of FEM for different rotor positions
can be seen, if the phase current is kept constant 13 Amps (0° is
equal to unaligned rotor position and 45° is equal to aligned rotor
position). The investigated phase is B. As it can be seen from this
Fig. 5, the flux linkage is decreased with increasing phase turns in
short circuit.

The accuracy of the result depends on the size of FEM mesh ψ = f(Θ,I)
and accuracy of the input parameters. In this model, 11578 nodes
were used. The calculation was carried out for each individual rotor 0.025

position and current under static condition. The rotor position Θ 0.02
was moved from unaligned Θu to aligned position Θa with step of 0.015
ψ [Wb]

1° and in each position the current was changed within its working 0.01

0.005

0
30
20
80 100
10 60
20 40
0 0
I[A] Θ[°]

Fig. 4 FEM analysis of the SRM, flux linkage

for various rotor positions and currents

a) b)
Fig. 2 FEM analysis of the SRM, flux lines of the healthy SRM,
a) aligned rotor position, b) unaligned rotor position

Fig. 5 FEM analysis of the SRM, flux linkage versus rotor position
for constant phase current 13 A

A. Phase inductance calculation

a) b) The phase inductance L  f(I,Θ) versus rotor position for full
Fig. 3 FEM analysis of the SRM, flux lines of the SRM, where 50 % current range is a static parameter which is needed in SRM math-
of coil "B" turns are in short circuit; a) aligned rotor position, ematical model for dynamic simulations. The analysis was made
b) unaligned rotor position. for the whole working range. The phase inductance profiles are

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shown in Fig. 6. The results are obtained by means of FEM for
SRM in accordance with the following equation:
# A $ JdV
L= . (1)
I2
where A is magnetic vector potential, J is current density, V is
volume and I is phase current.
Fig. 6 FEM analysis of the SRM, the phase inductance for various rotor
positions and various phase currents
The phase inductance for various rotor position and current
13A under different winding faults can be seen in Fig. 7. The phase
inductance is decreased with increasing phase turns in short circuit.
Fig. 7 FEM analysis of the SRM, phase inductance versus rotor position
for constant phase current 13 A
B. Electromagnetic torque calculation
The electromagnetic torque was also calculated by means of
FEM. The static torque characteristics were obtained for the whole
working range. Maxwell’s stress tensor prescribes the torque per
unit area produced by the magnetic field in the air gap of the
motor. The differential torque produced is:
dT = `H _B $ ni + B _H $ ni - _H - Bi nj .
1
(2)
2
where n denotes the direction normal to the surface at the point
of interest, B is flux density and H is intensity of magnetic field.
62 G COMMUNICATIONS 2A/2013
The static electromagnetic torque of phase B in the air gap Tδ
for various rotor positions and various phase currents is shown in
Fig. 8.
Fig. 8 FEM analysis of the SRM, the static electromagnetic torque
of phase in the air gap Tδ for various rotor positions and various
phase currents
The static electromagnetic torque of phase B in the air gap Tδ
for various rotor positions and constant phase current 13A under
different winding faults is shown in Fig. 9. The static electromag-
netic torque in the air gap is decreased with increasing phase turns
in short circuit.
Fig. 9 FEM analysis of the SRM, the static electromagnetic torque
of phase B in the air gap Tδ for various rotor positions and constant
phase current 13 A
3. Mathematical model of SRM
As it is known the mathematical model of the SRM needs
input static parameters to be able to solve transients. The static
parameters: flux linkage, phase inductance, developed electromag-
netic torque of SRM are obtained by means of FEM and they are
used in this mathematical model to calculate following values: phase
current, speed, voltage and dynamic torque of the SRM during
normal operation and also during fault operation.
As it is known the electromagnetic torque of SRM can be cal-
culated from:
 2 # W di
i
4. Dynamic simulation of SRM
0
Te = (3)
2H Simulation model was created under Matlab. The model of
where i is phase current, Ψ is phase flux linkage and Θ is rotor a single phase is shown in Fig. 10.
position. To obtain dynamic total torque of SRM, the simulation
of its mathematical model is needed.

The mathematical model of SRM consists of the following

equations, if:
– leakage inductances between phases are neglected,
– iron losses are neglected,
– phase inductance depends on phase current and rotor position.

The voltage equation of one SRM phase is given as:

Fig. 10 Dynamic model of the SRM, one phase is shown only
d}
v = Ri + . (4)
dt
To control rotor speed, PI controller is used. The PI controller
where R is phase resistance, i is phase current and ψ is flux linkage. is implemented in the discrete version, therefore, the control signal
The flux linkage depends on both parameters: phase current and u(k) is given as:
rotor position (ψ  f (i, Θ)). Then
T k-1
d} 2} di 2} dH u _ki = K p =e _ki + / e _ i iG . (9)
Ti i = 0
= + . (5)
dt 2 i dt 2 H dt where k is a discrete time instant and T is sampling time.
The phase current is calculated from combination of (4) and
(5) as: The hysteresis controller is used to control phase current. The
phase voltage in (4) is given by DC voltage source, which supplied
dL _i, Hi
v - fR + ~p i
the converter of SRM. By this control the voltage can have three
dH values, if the voltage drops on the transistors and diodes are
di
= . (6) neglected:
dt L _i, Hi a) v  Vs, if the phase current i is lower than low limit of the
hysteresis region,
The real angular speed is calculated from equation: b) v  0, if the phase current is higher than high limit of the hys-
teresis region,
d~ 1 m
= e / T j _H, ii - Tload o . (7) c) v  Vs, if the phase current is switched off.
dt J j=1

where J is the moment of inertia and Tload is load torque. The control structure which is used in order to simulate SRM’s
transient is shown in Fig. 11. The coefficients of PI controller are
The SRM is controlled on the base of rotor position Θ, there- tuned by a trial and error method.
fore it is as follows
The SRM investigation was made for different speeds.
H= # ~ dt . (8) In dynamic simulation, the start up of the SRM was simulated
for three required speeds. In the first case the start up of a healthy

Fig. 11 The block diagram of SRM speed control with PI controller

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motor was simulated up to time 0.11 (see Fig. 12) and then, the
phase A fallout occurred. It means that the phase A is not active.
The load torque was kept constant 0.1 Nm and required speed
was 180 rpm. After the phase fallout occurs, the speed decreases
under the required speed value and speed ripple occurred about
17% from the required speed. Currents in three phases up to time
0.1 can be seen in Fig. 13. After this time the phase A fallout
occurred (the phase current is 0A). The phase current of phase B
is higher than in phase C, which can be caused by the switch ON
and switch OFF angles setup.

Fig. 14 Dynamic simulation of SRM speed with ndem  300 rpm,

the start up of healthy motor and the phase A fallout occurred

Fig. 12 Dynamic simulation of SRM speed with ndem  180 rpm, the
start up of healthy motor and the phase A fallout occurred

Fig. 15 Dynamic simulation of SRM currents with ndem  300 rpm,

the start up of healthy motor and the phase A fallout occurred

This was simulated for torque 0.1 Nm and speed up to 1000 rpm.
In the future it will be analyzed for rated speed and rated torque.

Fig. 13 Dynamic simulation of SRM currents with ndem  180 rpm, the
start up of healthy motor and the phase A fallout occurred

In Fig. 14, there is start up of the motor up to 300 rpm with

three phases and in time t  0.1 s A phase fault occurred. After
the phase fallout occurs, the speed decreases under the required
speed value and speed ripple occurred about 5% from the required
speed. Currents in three phases up to 0.1 s can be seen in Fig. 15.
After this time the phase A fallout occurred (the phase current is Fig. 16 Dynamic simulation of SRM speed with ndem  1000 rpm,
0A). The phase current of phase B is higher than in phase C, which the start up of healthy motor and the phase A fallout occurred
can be caused by the switch ON and switch OFF angles setup.

In Fig. 16, there is start up of the motor up to 1000 rpm with
three phases and in time t  0.12 s one phase fault occurred. After
the phase fallout occurs, the speed decreases under the required
speed value and speed ripple occurred about 2% from the required
speed. Currents in three phases can be seen in Fig. 17.
As it can be seen from these analyses, when the speed increases,
the speed ripple decreases. It is given by the inertia of the system.
5. Experimental results
To verify the simulated dynamic result an experimental test
rig with SRM coupled with BLDC load was carried out. The test
rig is shown in Fig. 18. The control board equipped with a Digital
Signal Controller by Freescale was used [12] and [13]. The control
board is connected with low power and a low voltage converter
which supplies the SRM. The control loop consists of a speed

64 G COMMUNICATIONS 2A/2013
 Fig. 17 Dynamic simulation of SRM currents with ndem  1000rpm,
the start up of healthy motor and the phase A fallout occurred
loop with PI controller and a slave current loop made by hystere-
sis current controllers.
Fig. 18 Experimental test rig equipped with SRM and BLDC load
The measured speed start up of the healthy SRM is shown in
Fig. 19. The load torque was kept constant 0.1 Nm.
Fig. 19 The measured speed start up of the healthy SRM.
The measured phase currents for start up and steady state of
the healthy SRM are presented in Fig. 20.
The measured start up of the healthy SRM where the required
speed is 1000 rpm is shown in Fig. 21.
Fig. 20 The measured phase currents for start up of the healthy SRM
The measured phase currents for start up and steady state of
the healthy SRM for the required speed 1000 rpm are shown in
Fig. 22.
The start up of the healthy SRM and fallout of one phase in
time 1.9 s, for the required speed 180 rpm are shown in Fig. 23.
It means that one phase was un-plugged from the motor.
The measured phase currents for start up of the healthy SRM
for the required speed 180 rpm and in time 1.9 s and fallout of
one phase are shown in Fig. 24.
The speed and currents are filtered with an exponential filter
to remove the noise.
Fig. 21 The measured speed start up of the healthy SRM at 0.1 Nm
6. Conclusion
In this paper the static and dynamic analyses of the SRM fault
operations are presented. The SRM static parameters were calcu-
lated by means of FEM for a healthy and short circuit phase. The
mathematical model of the SRM was derived and used for dynamic
simulation. The dynamic health and the phase fallout of the motor
are analyzed by simulations and the results are compared with the
measured ones. There are some differences caused by lower accu-
racy of the switch ON and switch OFF angles setup in simulation
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 iphA, iphB, iphC=f(t) ndem =180 [rpm]
25
i i i
phA phB phC

20

[A]
The phase fallout

phA phB phC

15

,i
10

,i
i
5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
t [s]

Fig. 24 The measured phase currents for start up of the healthy SRM
Fig. 22 The measured phase currents for start up of the healthy SRM and fallout of one phase

and in real SRM drive. This will be solved in the future also with
higher speed and torque and for some other faults in the SRM.
On the base of this analysis verification, the simulation model
can be used for other fault operation investigation and some rec-
ommendations can be done.

Fig. 23 The start up of the healthy SRM and fallout of one phase
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Devel-
opment Agency under the Contract No. SK-RO-0016-10 and VEGA
No. 1/0940/13 and R&D operational program Centre of excel-
lence of power electronics systems and materials for their com-
ponents II. No. OPVaV-2009/ 2.1/02-SORO, ITMS 26220120046
funded by European regional development fund (ERDF). Authors
also like to thank the Freescale Semiconductors in Czech Republic
for their support.

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